This invention relates generally to local area networks (LANs), and more specifically, it relates to carrier detection for a wireless local area network.
Local area networks wherein a plurality of network stations are interconnected by cabling have become widely known and utilized. However, LANs using wired connections have the disadvantage that extensive cabling is required to interconnect the stations. The provision of such cabling is generally inconvenient, and gives rise to inflexibility if it is desired to alter the physical location of the stations. It has been proposed to utilize a wireless radio link for LANs. However, certain problems are associated with the use of a radio transmission link, particularly for LANs in an indoor environment. One such problem is multipath fading. The use of spread spectrum communication techniques alleviates the problems associated with multipath fading.